1.5.2-Columbina
Brick!Club 1.5.2 - 1.5.4 Okay, let’s just accept that I am never going to be organised enough to post on weekends. Sorry for the ridiculous shortness, life and uni and stuff. 1.5.2 Madeleine And so, in the space of a few years, Valjean goes from having rocks thrown at him by children to having all the doors of society open to him, thanks to money. Hugo glosses right over it, but I’m still super interested in his actual business skills - no matter how good your idea, it’s rarely going to be enough to make you rich if you can’t manage your business well, and I don’t think they taught that at Toulon. His two standards of morality and his insistence of keeping the sexes separate has been touched on by most everyone, but I’m just curious as to where he got the idea that it was so dangerous. I mean, Valjean going “I am going to make sure that everyone has enough to eat so no one becomes desperate enough to steal” that makes sense - but what does he know about the dangers of moral corruption through sex? Kingedmundsroyalmurderer talked about Valjean following the letter rather than the spirit of “goodness” which is also possible - after all, I can’t imagine he received a terribly nuanced religious education when he was young and the Bishop didn’t take the the time out to give him one (unless he let him back in after he was praying outside). Presumably he’s bought himself a bible somewhere along the way, but he probably hasn’t had the time to really work through it and question and come to conclusions and so on, so he’s working on “Okay, I said I was going to be good now, going to help everyone else be good too, being good means no hanky-panky, gotta keep that out of the factory.” People gossip about what he is up to, this is completely legit, Hugo, shut up. 1.5.3 Sums deposited with Laffitte BLESS YOU VALJEAN YOU TERRIBLY AWKWARD BEAR THROWING MONEY AT PEOPLE SO THEY LEAVE YOU ALONE. “He never killed an inoffensive animal. He never shot at a little bird.” This makes me think of To Kill a Mockingbird, and then I cry EVEN HARDER. “He offered his assistance to any one who was in need of it, lifted a horse, released a wheel clogged in the mud, or stopped a runaway bull by the horns.” I’m sorry, can we just, with that last one, because oh my God Valjean that’s insane. He avoids contact, but will happily ramble about nettles for like five minutes straight, bless him. And the kids and the trifles and the funerals and his books and his ugly furniture and his breaking into houses so he doesn’t have to talk to people and UGH I JUST LOVE MADELEINE A LOT OKAY. 1.5.4 M. Madeleine in Mourning Ahahahahahaha I can’t wait to see everyone get angry about this chapter. ME TOO, GUYS, ME TOO. That said though, “The supreme happiness of life consists in the conviction that one is loved; loved for one’s own sake—let us say rather, loved in spite of one’s self” way to pierce my heart just as I’m getting all worked up in my 21st Century Feminist Rage there, Hugo, thanks. Also, a straight up lie from Valjean, oh ho ho. Careful there, you start talking about made-up pasts, you confuse yourself and say the wrong thing and it all comes crashing down. Commentary Azalealillebrune (*quietly pokes into brick!club despite being many chapters ahead because I have relevant knowledge for once, even if it’s very minor and not really plot relevant*) On the subject of Valjean stopping a runaway bull by the horns being insane. Um. I have witnessed my father do this. It really depends on the circumstances and the, er, mood of the bull, but in certain cases if you grab a horn and twist it’s neck a bit, the bull will stop (I think out of surprise?). You’d probably have to be stronger than average, and also have VERY good instincts around livestock (don’t try this one at home, kids) but it IS possible. Maybe Hugo saw someone do it once and thought, this totally seems like a thing that Valjean the Mayor would do. He probably thought it was a subtle way to hint that the Mayor was actually that super-strong convict guy from a few chapters ago, bless. (Said father also advises that if you’re ever in a fight with a bull, the best thing you can do is hold onto its horns until it gets tired, because that way it can’t throw you or use the horns to injure you. So if you want to talk insane…) Columbina (reply to Azalealillebrune) OH MY GOD. Oh my God. Oh my God. Whatever else I learn in the course of this year about history, religion, whatever, this is going to be the greatest thing I have gotten out of Brick!Club. Thank you so much for sharing, this is amazing. Also, oh my God, your dad.